One Person
by Love From A Muggle
Summary: One person shows Argus Filch kindness at Christmas, a holiday he's hated since he was a child. Written for the Twin Exchange Christmas Festival. *complete* Argus/Luna-friendship.


One Person:

Written for the Twin Exchange Christmas Festival.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's note: It takes place during Luna's first year, and Draco's second year, which would be Harry's second year and in the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Argus Filch's First person point of view.

Luna is a bit OOC here, just warning you now but she had to be in it.

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><p>I hated how lonely I felt all the time. Especially at Christmas. I cursed as I broke another one of my best mops cleaning up. I walked slowly to the cupboard under the stairs to get a second mop so that I could finish my work.<p>

It was a cold, rainy evening before Christmas Eve and I did not feel like being in the Christmas mood. I have hated the holiday, ever since my father died so close to Christmas years ago, and my mother the Christmas after my father died.

The only good thing in my life that kept me going was being at Hogwarts. As odd as it sounded, I actually liked having something to keep me busy. Sure, I hated the students, but it was the work that kept me from thinking about too many dark things from my past.

My work kept me busy all day. I was grumpy most of the time because I would spend hours perfecting something just to see it messed up again by a student. I wiped my brow with my dirty sleeve as I finished mopping the floor for the second time today. Just as I leaned on the mop, that Malfoy boy and his cronies came walking past me on their way to dinner ruining my freshly mopped floor all over again.

I felt like cursing and tripping the Malfoy boy just to bring me a little joy, but I didn't because I was a staff member and it wouldn't look right. All I did was glare at the student.

I took the mop, placed it into the soapy water and started mopping the same spot for the tenth time. When I was done for the second time in five minutes, another student walked past me so close to where I just finished, on her way to the Great Hall.

"Don't you dare step on that spot. I just cleaned it for the tenth time," I growled at her as she was about to step near me to get into the Great Hall for dinner.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I will go around the spot you just cleaned." she said in a dreamy voice. Platinum blonde hair bounced as she waltzed around the spot. I noticed she had radish earrings on.

"You're what?" I stared at her dumbfounded and almost dropped the mop. No student had ever apologized to me before.

"I said I'm sorry." She stopped dead in her tracks. This one was an odd student I knew that already, but what made her even odder, if that were possible, was the fact that she apologized, knowing she didn't even do anything yet, she had only almost stepped on the clean, wet floor.

I just grunted at her and continued mopping in the other direction as she walked into the Great Hall. My evening passed quickly with a few problems here and there. By the end of the night I was done mopping the hallway into the Great Hall.

Students kept walking over the path I just cleaned causing me to glare and grumble. Again, Draco Malfoy walked on it after seeing me just finish mopping. It was then, that I had my second encounter with the girl with the radish earrings.

She came out of the Great Hall, "Malfoy leave him alone." She stood firm without moving. She didn't so much as glance at me at all. I stared at her dumbfounded, not really knowing how to react.

"Sticking up for the help, Looney Lovegood? You always were an odd sort. Did you find your shoes yet?" He glanced down at her feet as another Slytherin girl snickered with him.

"Why, yes, I did. I found them this morning near the dungeons. I wonder how they got there," she spoke in a dreamy voice towards the monster. I had never heard anyone speak so calmly towards the Malfoy boy before. I stared in amazement as this small girl stood up for someone much older than her.

"I put them there this morning. We had help from someone in Ravenclaw," the Parkinson girl named Pansy sneered.

"If you put as much thought into your schooling instead of pranks, then maybe you'd pass," the girl spoke, not afraid of anything. The other girl stared at her. If looks could kill, the one defending me would be dead already.

"Hold your tongue, idiot girl." The brunette with the cropped hair snapped. One of her friends stood in between them holding the brunette back.

"She's not worth it. She's standing up for Filch remember?" That seemed to calm her down. I glanced up as my name was thrown into the fight. Malfoy just stood there and laughed at the whole thing.

"Clearly, I'm not the one that's an idiot," the girl with the radish earrings replied.

All the Slytherins froze. I dropped my mop at her statement. When all eyes turned towards me, I picked it up and pretended to get back to work, watching them out of the corner of my eyes.

"I'd be careful if I were you or I'll give you a detention," I spoke, finding myself defending the girl who defended me.

"Like a Squib could put me in detention. Come on, Draco. I'm tired of spending my evening with low lifes like them." Parkinson snickered as she tugged on Draco's arm.

I glared at them. Everyone knew I was a Squib, but no one spoke to me about it till now. They also moved down the hall because they knew that regardless of my magical prowess or my blood status, I could most certainly give them a detention. The Slytherins stomped off towards the dungeons as I went back to work.

"Thank you, for standing up for me," Lovegood said before starting to leave. I just stared at her but ignored her.

I finally finished the huge hallway once more before midnight after all the students finished walking on it. Exhausted from the physical work, I went to my little room near the teacher's lounge.

I glanced at my window outside. It was snowing out and I knew all the students who remained behind for the holiday would be outside in the snow. It would give me time to work on things around the castle without worrying about anything.

I ate a cold supper sent to my room by an elf. I never dreamed much, but that night I dreamed of a Christmas memory lost in my mind.

_**Dream**_

_I was a child once more. My mother's smiling face stared back at me on Christmas morning. She picked me up, carried me to the tree and sat me down on her knees. My father came into the room at the exact moment with a present. We didn't have much money back then, but my father gave me one present. It was a teddy bear. One they hoped I'd play with often. I opened the present and smiled with glee. _

_**End Dream**_

As I awoke the next morning, I stared at my little room. There, in the corner sitting on a chair was a very old teddy bear. I still had it. I glanced at the window again, thankful for the snow.

Another day passed by quickly as it started. This time, I didn't have any run ins with the Malfoy boy or his friends. As I came to my room after finishing another day's work I noticed something was different. Instead of the bear sitting on my chair, there was a package sitting where the bear usually sat. Getting frantic because someone broke into my room while I was gone, I searched for my precious bear. I found it resting on my pillows. While hugging it, Mrs. Norris came in through her cat hole with a field mouse in her teeth.

"IF you're thinking of eating that in here, then do it near the door so I don't have to watch," I growled at her.

I put the bear back on the chair after moving the present. Attached to the present was a piece of parchment. No one had ever given me a Christmas present before. Dumbledore tried once, but I told him I didn't want any socks.

I took off the parchment and sat the present on the bed beside me.

_Dear Mr. Filch,_

_I know you don't care for holidays, rumors passed through students told me that. But I wanted to thank you personally for standing up for me. You see, I get teased often for being weird. If anyone should understand that, I figured it was you, no offense. We're not weird. I always told myself I was different and they were jealous of me being different. _

_That's how I see you and I._

_Please, accept this scarf as a thank you gift. I know you would think it was a Christmas present, but it really is a thank you gift. Or you could just accept it as a Christmas present. I happened to notice you didn't have anything around your neck when you were working outside in the snow one afternoon and knew it's exactly what you needed. _

_Happy Christmas,_

_Luna Lovegood_

_P.S. I had a house elf break into your room to give you the present. _

One person cared about me. One person showed me kindness when the rest of the world seemed to turn me away. I tore open the present like a child at Christmas.

There, on my lap was a black and gold wool scarf. It looked like it was hand made. I wondered if she made it herself. I stood up with the scarf and stood across from my bed facing my mirror. I wrapped the gift around my neck feeling the warmth come from the present. One small move from a small person caused a smile across an old face that hadn't smiled at Christmas since I was a child.

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><p>Please review, this story is very different from what I normally write and would mean the world to me for your opinions.<p>

Special Thanks To: Mia Cara, and for Slytherin Head, my two, awesomely fast betas.


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